8 players mentioned by Mike Tomlin in Thursday’s press conference

As the Pittsburgh Steelers prepared to take the practice field at Acrisure Stadium for a joint practice with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ahead of Saturday night’s preseason game, head coach Mike Tomlin had his formal media session. With plenty of questions asked by those in attendance, it is once again time for a players mentioned article. Remember these are players where a specific question was asked during the Q&A period.

Mason Rudolph

Coach Tomlin was asked if he would like to see more from your run game and maybe focus a little bit more on that this week. In this response, Coach Tomlin mentioned Mason Rudolph.

“You know, the last time we wanted to make sure that we saw a good sampling of Mason Rudolph versus their first unit. They were playing their first unit there early on. Our agenda may change this week, but a lot of it has to do with how they choose to play, they meaning the Bucs, meaning who they play and in the schematics they deploy. But largely, we’re in this mindset that we’ll play this game similarly to how we played the last one.”

Ryan McCollum

Coach Tomlin was asked if anybody is out due to injury. In his response, Coach Tomlin specifically mentioned Ryan McCollum.

“Potentially, but in the preseason, 48 hours plus is a long way away, so I don’t want to exclude anyone at this juncture. We’ll make those decisions at the 11th Hour, Friday evening, Saturday morning,regarding who’s available and who’s not from an injury perspective. It’s day to day this time of year. One thing we want to do is definitively give guys an opportunity to participate in the game. For example, Ryan McCollum is a partial participant today. He’s got an opportunity to maybe be a full participant Saturday night. I’ll just simply live day by day and see and see how it goes.That’s just one example of it. Those are the decisions that happen this time of year. We don’t have to present participation list and things of that nature like you do in the regular season. We’re able to carry to the 11th Hour.”

Kaleb Johnson

Coach Tomlin was asked  if there is anything specifically he wants to see from Kaleb Johnson this time around that he didn’t see the first time.

“I just want to see him trust himself more. I want to see him play more instinctually, trust his talents. That’s reasonable to expect between the first experience and the second experience.”

Aaron Rodgers

Coach Tomlin was asked what Aaron Rodgers added on the headset during that piece of the game last week.

“Nothing official. We just wanted him to hear how we function.We felt that’d be beneficial in terms of him getting a sense of how we function and communicate and so forth. Nothing official in terms of his add.”

Coach Tomlin was asked if he is anticipating the joint practice being Rodgers’ preseason.

“Again, I’ll deal with next week, next week. Nice try.”

Roman Wilson & Calvin Austin III

Coach Tomlin was asked about guys taking advantage of opportunities and what he has seen Roman Wilson do in the absence of Calvin Austin III during practices.

“You know, I think his performance has zero to do with Calvin, to be honest with you. His performance is about his growth and development, and I like the trajectory of it. He’s made plays when called upon. He’s hardworking and available day in and day out. He brings a good can-do attitude. He’s an example of a second-year guy that, although he didn’t have a lot of playing experience from last year, it’s his second year in the program, and it should show,and it has.”

Coach Tomlin was asked if he mentioned Calvin Austin in his opening statement about player availability.

“His availability is based on health, so we’ll see.”

Jalen Ramsey & Joey Porter Jr.

Coach Tomlin was asked when he has a lot of capable corners and guys who are kind of alphas, who wants that match up against the number one kind of wide receiver like Mike Evans and what are some of the conversations in that room. In his response, Coach Tomlin mentioned Jalen Ramsey.

“They’re not a whole lot of conversations. Jalen is going to get it. Some people may hate it, and I love that competitive spirit in the collective, but I think it’s already been decided.”

Coach Tomlin was asked if Joey Porter Jr. is one of those people that’s going to hate it.

“You can name whoever you want to name. Competitive young people want the match up, but it’s already been decided.”

Mike Tomlin’s complete interview can be seen here: